Oppression thrives in apathy. It operates on indifference. It succeeds because people have given up. Once people broadly accept that nothing can be done, it becomes true. It doesn’t matter whether a weight is one pound or one thousand pounds. If no one will try to move it, it cannot be moved.

A tyrant nurtures this sense of resignation. He is a schoolyard bully or an abusive boyfriend writ large. He nourishes distrust, warning that anyone else would be worse. He crows about his successes, no matter how minor. He taunts defeated opponents, building them up after the fact to grow his own strength by the telling. Yet his power is contingent on limited resistance. He doesn’t win by defeating everyone. He wins only when enough people give up. It was as true for Benito Mussolini as in your high school cafeteria. It’s true now.

What do we do about it? How do you fend off defeatism? You need to recognize that you don’t have to do everything. You just have to oppose injustice where you are able. The goal is not to be Superman, and save the city yourself. The goal is simply to help where you can. That’s it. If you are able to make phone calls, keep making phone calls. If you are able to write letters, keep writing letters. If you are able to march, march. If you are able to donate money, keep donating money. It isn’t important that your individual actions are effective on their own. It is, however, vital that you continue to work toward the liberty and justice that this nation should stand for, both for yourself and for the others who will be encouraged by it. Even on days when you have given up hope, you can still have resolve. Victory comes from saying “Yes, we can,” one more time than they will say, “no you can’t.”

Nearly as important is appreciating and celebrating success. Any victory no matter how small will be treated as a triumph by an oppressive regime. The opposition must do likewise wherever they are able. Seeing and celebrating small successes undermines the narrative of inevitable failure. It reminds you of what you’ve accomplished, and reinforces for everyone else that they, too, can still make a difference. Celebrate when a good bill passes into law, at any level. Celebrate when your candidates win. Celebrate the defeat of any oppression, however temporary. Every time you do, it supports others who might consider giving up. Some people will say that there’s nothing to celebrate until some kind of final victory. Those people are wrong. Human being work best when they feel like their efforts are effective. Acknowledging smaller successes does not prevent continued work toward a larger goal.

The myth of history always centers itself on great leaders: Alexander the Great, Cicero, Abraham Lincoln, Dwight Eisenhower. Everyone loves to hear about the victorious hero. But the rarely spoken truth about these heroes is that they didn’t do anything. Alexander was king, but Macedonian soldiers and cavalry defeated Persia. Cicero delivered speeches, but the Senate and the Roman people protected the Republic. Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation, but Union soldiers won the war and government agents and the slaves themselves ended chattel slavery. After the Supreme Court issued a ruling against segregation in Brown v. Board of Education, Eisenhower did not personally fly to Little Rock and enforce the ruling. Nine brave students integrated the schools themselves, protected by members of the United States army. History is always made by individuals acting on behalf of a cause. We are those individuals.

The effort to resist the current administration has often been compared to a marathon rather than a short sprint to emphasize the scale and to warn people to pace themselves. If we’re going to compare our efforts to the field of athletics, it seems more appropriate to use a team sport. Let’s say that this is a football game: The quarterback can’t win it by himself. We all have to play our part, whether that’s running the ball, blocking the defense, or even punting effectively. Do what you can, as well as you can. One touchdown or one interception won’t win the game. Cheer anyway. It makes the next one come easier. By that same token one bad play won’t force a loss. Halftime is in 2018. If we work together, we can get there with our Democracy intact and go into the second half with the lead.